Avatar the Last Airbender: The Forgotten Hero
by Nightwolf King of the Wolves
Summary: What if your ancestors were so evil that even though you've proved yourself a hundred times over, even though you saved the world, you were still a symbol of evil and your story was forgotten. my name is Jak-jak and i am the last Spacebender. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Author's Note: What if your ancestors were so evil that even though you proved yourself a hundred times over, even though you helped save the world you were only seen as a symbol of evil? What if you were ignored and your story forgotten? My name is Jak-jak and I am the last Spacebender**

**Disclaimer****: I do NOT own Avatar the last airbender **

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It was a dark and stormy night, lightning lit up the skies in flashes of brilliant blue and the rain lashed against the earth. Everyone slept safely in their houses, all took shelter from the raging storm. All but one. A hooded figure stole through the night. The figure approached the grand entrance to the Southern air temple, home of the air nomads the most accepting of all the nations. The hooded woman lay her baby at the steps of the temple. She looked at his face for what she knew would be the last time and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She rapped her knuckles hard against the large, wooden door and disappeared into the night.

Slowly, the door creaked open revealing an elderly man with a white moustache and a blue arrow tattooed on his bald head. He gazed down at the six month old child. He had no clues to the child's identity except for the starry cloak he was wrapped in, a symbol of the Space Empire, a baby Wolf-ferret the last of its kind and a yellowed piece of paper with one word scrawled across it: 'Jak-jak'. The kindly monk gently gathered the sleeping child in his arms and carried him into the temple.

Now I must start at the beginning. One-hundred and fifty years ago there were not four nations but eight. Eight great nations and eight different benders. Along with the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribes and Air Nomads there were also the Woodland Tribe and woodbenders, the Time Realm with their time benders, the Space Empire with spacebenders and the most important yet smallest nation were the Dragon Union a select few who had the gift to speak with the legendary race of dragons. The dragonbenders lived high in the mountains, hidden in solitude.

A mere fifty years before Aang was born, the Space Empire attacked. They recruited their brethren from the Time Realm and killed the Woodland Tribe they then hunted down and killed every member of the Dragon Union and what was thought to be the last of all the dragons. But the Space Empire's ruler: Emperor Rikka wanted more than this he wanted the Space Empire to be the only nation. He had taken prisoners from both the Woodland and Dragon nations and forced them to teach his people how to master their bending. Silently he made a snaky arrangement with the Fire Nation and Fire Lord Sonzin and double crossed the Time Realm, killing them as well. Now the remaining four nations were fighting back and the spacebenders were losing. This is why Jak-jak's mother had left them at the door of the temple fifty years after this all began, to save him from death.

Five months later the Space Empire had been defeated, it was outlawed to even speak of the subject and avatar Aang was born.

Jak-jak spent the first twelve years of his life under Monk Gyatso's guidance. Gyatso did not try to hide Jak-jak's origin from him. The red-haired, freckle-faced boy had silently vowed to be good, to never follow the footsteps of his ancestors he would not let the fact that he was seen as a symbol of evil stop him from achieving his goals of spreading peace and helping his friend Avatar Aang.

Jak-jak lay awake the night Aang decided to run away. He had been playing aimlessly with Riff his wolf-ferret (a ferret with the head and tail of a wolf though ferret-sized and a ferret's long body coated with shaggy, grey fur) when he had heard Aang in the room next to him leave his room, his pet lemur Momo on his shoulder. Jak-jak had heard of the row the young avatar had with the monks earlier that day and decided to follow him. Swiftly he donned his trademark, starry cloak the only thing he had that still connected him to his unknown parents. He thought of this as he stroked the brooch that held it in place fondly, the insignia of the Space Empire.

Snapping his thoughts back to the task ahead he held out an arm, allowing Riff to scramble up his arm to reside, curled up between his neck and shoulder. Jak-jak had long since mastered the power of airbending. That was what made spacebending so unique not only could he bend space and therefor dark matter but he also had the ability to master all of the seven other elements.

He used his airbending to float down the hall, soundlessly on his glider as not to alert Aang. What happened next was confusing. Jak-jak had followed the boy, sneaking aboard Appa. A storm had started up. He had just revealed himself to Aang, about to beg him to return when they plunged into the icy sea below them. Aang had slipped into the avatar state and frozen them in a solid block of ice.

Jak-jak opened his eyes drowsily. His head throbbed and he was freezing. He raised his head to see a tanned boy looking down on him with a quizzical expression. He looked so comical that Jak-jak would have laughed were it not for the throbbing pain in his head. He tried to stand but fell back again, unstable on the slippery ice below him. ICE! He thought suddenly, he was on ice, just where was he exactly? He groaned and staggered to his feet again. He saw the face of a tanned girl, obviously the boy's sister before his world faded into darkness and the ground rushed up to meet him.

Jak-jak awoke. His headache had subsided but he was still freezing in his light, air nomad robes and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. He sat up and took in his surroundings. He was in some sort of dome and as he focussed his eyes on its white walls he realised that it was made entirely of snow. A fire smoked in front of him, slowly dying out and he was covered in the heavy furs of dead animals. He could see Aang's sleeping form on the other side of the fire. He had gotten to his feet and was about to try to find some people in this small freezing…house…thing when the tanned girl from before entered the room with her brother following behind, a scowl on his face he eyed Jak-jak with mistrust.

"Who are you?" the boy blurted out rudely. "I-I'm Jak-jak" he answered, feeling somewhat insecure around these strangers in their fur-lined clothes. The girl glared at her brother "I'm Katara" she introduced herself "and this rude fart is my brother Sokka" she told him jabbing a thumb in Sokka's direction who's mouth now hung open indignant at being called a 'rude fart'. He quickly recovered his apposing stance and questioned Jak-jak again "why are you wearing air nomad clothes? What were you doing in that big hunk of ice? And WHY is his head blue?!" he gestured towards Aang's bald head and arrow tattoo. Jak-jak took a deep breath and decided to tell him the truth "I'm the last Spacebender…and this…is the avatar. Sokka's eyes looked as though they were going to pop out of his head and for once he was speechless.

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**Hey! I hope you enjoyed that chapter. This is my first fanfic so I know it's not perfect, constructive critism is appreciated.**

**I am Nightwolf, king of the Wolves and Leader of all Packs.**

**I am a storyteller.**

**Please review**


	2. Chapter 2: The Hundred Year Gap

**Hi, thanks to anyone who reviewed the first chapter so, just to clear things up. Jak-jak is the last Spacebender, he was raised in the same temple as Aang, and he ended up following Aang the night he ran away and was found by Sokka and Katara a hundred years later.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender!**

Sokka stood with his mouth agape. "Wh-wha-what!?" he cried out, his hand making frantic gestures to emphasise his shock and confusion. Katara took him by the shoulders and pushed him out of the room as he rambled on about science and the impossibility of it all.

Katara stood in front of Jak-jak after swiftly disposing of her shocked brother. The young Spacebender gulped nervously, Katara look stern, her eyes narrowed as she took in his whole appearance. "Who are you really?" Jak-jak opened his mouth to answer but she cut him off. "You can't be the 'last spacebender' there's no such thing. And the avatar disappeared over a hundred years ago!" she gestured towards Aang's sleeping form, her voice had climbed to an angry yell at this stage.

Then she broke down sobbing. Jak-jak stood dumbfounded for a moment. "If he had been here our mother wouldn't have been taken" she murmured in a barely audible half-whisper. Jak-jak hunkered down in front of her. "I'm so sorry" he looked away "I know how you feel, I-I never got to meet my parents, I was left at the temple, that's where I met Aang, we um… he tried to escape and I followed him. The last thing I remember is him freezing us, I think. To um…stop us from drowning. Then you and you brother found us". Katara stopped crying and looked at Jak-jak's eyes one was an icy blue and seemed to stare right through her, the other was a mellow brown, friendly and sympathetic. As she stared into his different coloured eyes she found herself trusting him, her sobs subsided and she got to her feet slowly.

St that moment Aang shifted and opened his eyes, gazing around him, his eyes stopped at Katara where they gazed at her, a seduced expression made its way across his face. "Aang! You're awake" Jak-jak called out, noticing his friend's expression and braking him from his trance. "Huh?" Aang squirmed his way out from the pile of furs on top of him and staggered to his feet. Sokka walked in at that moment, his rambling had stopped.

"Okay!" he declared as he entered the room, "prove that you're an airbender" he said smugly. Aang scooped his marbles from the pocket of his traditional airbender clothes and did his party trick, making the marbles spin around in his hands. "Pfftt" Sokka said "you could just be an Earthbender". "But these are made of glass" Aang contradicted him, lifting up one of the glass orbs. "Okay fine, maybe you are the avatar but that doesn't explain why you disappeared for a hundred years". Aang stopped suddenly, the marbles clattered to the floor. "A hundred years?" he muttered almost to himself. "No, I wasn't gone for a hundred years, I-it was only er…it was only" Aang slumped to the ground, his eyes glazed over in what could only be described as complete misery. "I have to go find Monk Gyatso" he cried as he grabbed his glider but Katara stopped him. "Aang, there's something you should know" she murmured, biting her lip. She sighed. "The air nomads were killed by the fire nation".

Jak-jak's heart skipped a beat, his breath caught in his chesty 'killed? They couldn't have been killed' "by who?" he managed to choke out. Sokka put a hand on his shoulder "you really don't know, do you". It was more of a statement than a question but Jak-jak shook his head anyway. "They were killed by the fire nation, in the hundred year war. A dull thump told him that Aang had fainted.

**Author's Note: okay, so time jumps ahead to when Aang and Katara set off the flare in the abandoned fire nation ship, Jak-jak stayed back at the village to help Sokka with the food supplies. I know that not all the events are in the right order but I had to do that to suit the story.**

Jak-jak watched as a bright light shot through the sky. "Look" he told Sokka as they carried crates of dried fish and jerky to the storage igloo. Sokka looked up and dropped his crate in surprise, spilling its contents of fish out onto the ground, which Riff scurried to eat. "Oh-no" he cried slapping himself promptly on the face. "What is it?" Jak-jak asked confused at Sokka's reaction. "They set off the fire nation ship flare" he growled, his annoyance turning to anger.

The entire tribe had gathered at the gates to the tribe's village. Angry scowls were plastered on their faces. Aang and Katara soon appeared in the distance and in a matter of time they had reached the gathered tribe. Aang looked at his feet sheepishly whilst Katara held her head high, daring someone to challenge her. She did not expect that challenger to be Sokka.

"What were you thinking Katara?" Sokka asked angrily. "Wait" Aang began and the tribes gaze shifted quickly to him. "It was my fault I asked her to come". "Oh I know" Sokka stated coolly, his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. He sighed "I think you should leave Aang". "But the fire nation might come, you need my help!" the avatar protested. "I think you've helped enough", he turned his back to show the monk that he was dismissed. Aang sighed in defeat and trudged away. Jak-jak sighed, knowing that he would have to go with his friend. "Aang wait up, I'm coming too. Sokka turned to look at Jak-jak "wait, Jack, you don't have to go, you didn't do anything!" he said, looking regretful at the thoughts of losing his newly-made friend. Jak-jak just gave him a faint smile to show that he regretted their ending friendship too before he turned and followed Aang.

"Then I-I'm coming too" Katara announced as she began to follow Aang. "No Katara" Sokka shouted, turning to grab her elbow. "You can't give up everything you have here to follow some bald boy with tattoos!" "Let go of me" Katara demanded, twisting her elbow away from his grasp. "Katara" Aang began gently "Sokka's right you don't need to come with me, stay here, with the people you love" he told her, gesturing toward the hostile tribe. Katara sighed before nodding her agreement.

Jak-jak gave a final wave of farewell to Sokka before turning and continuing his trek through the snow to where they had left Appa previously. Riff sat on his shoulder, gnawing on the fish he had stolen, his long fangs tearing into the creature's flesh. Aang shivered "it's fr-freezing" Aang murmured through chattering teeth. "Here" Jak-jak said offering the frozen boy his cloak. "But won't you be cold then?" Aang asked. "Naw, I'll be fine" he insisted wrapping his cloak around the boy's bare shoulders. "Thanks" he said gratefully.

Aang sat on a pillar of ice next to me. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked. "We don't have anywhere to go, not with…" he trailed off. Jak-jak knew instantly that he was referring to the dead monks and now-empty temple. Jak-jak placed an arm around Aang's shoulders comfortingly. He sighed

Aang jumped suddenly to his feet. Snow fell from the sky, black snow.

**Please review. I accept constructive critism. Please share any ideas with me for future updates.**

**I am Nightwolf, King of the Wolves, and Leader of all Packs.**

**I am a Storyteller.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Journey Begins

**Author's Note: my deepest thanks to all those who have reviewed. May the great moon above watch over you.**

** -Nightwolf, King of the Wolves**

**DISCLAIMER: Much to my greatest sorrow I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender**

Jak-jak's P.O.V.

I jumped to my feet as the blackened snow began to drift towards the ground. A sharp tang met my nose and I was instantly reminded of soot. "The Fire Nation" I found myself yelling as I recalled Sokka's grave account of the soot-snow that had fallen before his village had been invaded. "Come on" I urged Aang, my hand closing over the wooden pole that was my trusty glider. Aang stood up, my cloak still around his shoulders than he sat down again with a pained expression on his face. "We can't" he told me with a shake of his head. "We were banished, remember". "I don't care" I snarled. Now I was getting angry.

I struck my glider against the ground, its black wings popping out on impact. Riff scrambled up the wooden frame and rested on its point on his dainty feet. I threw it hard, to gain altitude before leaping onto it with a final glare at Aang who remained on the icy ground with Momo chirping on his shoulder.

It wasn't a long flight to the village but the air was cold and thin and soon I found myself shaking with the cold once again. The wind blew my red, unruly hair into a frenzy and I had to squint to see. Riff chattered loudly, signalling the village up ahead.

Before long I had descended but I could barely speak. "The snow" I managed to gasp to Sokka who had run out to greet me. He led me behind the walls and sat me down, allowing me to catch my breath.

"The Fire Nation…" I began but at that moment a crude-looking metal ship loomed into focus. Its pointed metal prow split through the ice as though it were mere butter. I made myself appear calm but inside I was a screaming wreck. Never before had I felt such fear. It coursed through my veins and chilled my bones to the very marrow.

Sokka hastily smeared traditional war-paint across his face and grabbed his jaw-bone dagger from the ground beside him. I stood too, I had long since learned to Woodbend and even though I felt it wasn't really a proper element I was glad of it as I bent a nearby stake into a pointy, wooden mace.

Sokka leapt onto the back of an approaching soldier and whacked him hard on the head. The soldier toppled forward and blood splattered the ground. Quickly I turned to my advancing foe and with my make-shift mace I whacked him hard in the stomach and sending him flying into a tower of snow which crumbled and caved in on top of him, burying him.

"My tower" Sokka yelled in a mixture of shock and pure disbelief as the pillar of snow fell. His expression made me want to laugh, his jaw hanging open and eyes wide but this wasn't the place to laugh.

A tall, pale teenager stood at the edge of the ship's prow. His skin was pale, he wore his hair up in a high ponytail at the back of his head and a mean looking scar covered his left eye. He jumped down, landing gracefully on the thick snow. He marched towards me. Sokka screamed as he ran towards him, about to strike, he was stopped easily by a short burst of fire from the teenager's fist. "Tell me where the Avatar is" he demanded marching up to me. "I-I do-don't kn-know" I stammered, answering truthfully. "Tell me where he is now!" he threatened his amber eyes glared, he didn't believe me.

"Leave him alone, I'm here" I looked up to see Aang swoop down on his glider, Momo on his shoulder. "Aang!" Katara cried. "No Aang, go back, we've got this" I yelled, if this fire nation boy wanted him so much there was no way that he should be allowed to have him. The boy marched up to Aang "I am Prince Zuko" he proclaimed loudly "you're coming with me avatar". "Why should I do that?" Aang asked boldly" Zuko grinned menacingly "because if you don't I'll burn this place to the ground" and as if to prove his point several other fire nation soldiers leapt from the boat and shot flames towards the village, setting fire to anything wooden and melting their defensive walls.

Aang put his hands up in surrender "I'll go" he said his voice echoed gravely "just promise you won't harm the village", Zuko nodded and Aang was led into the ship as the tribes people ran around, extinguishing the last of the flames with thick handfuls of ice.

"What are we going to do?" Katara asked for what must have been the fourth time that day as she paced back and forth in front of me. We sat in her igloo. "I don't think we should do anything" Sokka murmured as he sat sharpening his boomerang. "What?!" Katara asked turning on him. Sokka put his boomerang down and sighed "look, I'm just saying that he brought this on himself, if he hadn't gone with you to the fire navy ship then he wouldn't have set off that flare and none of this would have happened!" ."What!? It wasn't his fault", Katara looked infuriated. I sat back, it was safer not to say anything. "It was his fault, he was the one who decided to go to the ship" Sokka reasoned" "yeah, but…" Katara trailed off. I stood up "well, I'm going to go save him anyway" I declared, "He's still my friend". Katara nodded in approval. Sokka sighed "well then, I suppose I'll come too after all I can't leave my only sister with a stranger we just met" he stated with a wink.

"Come on" I urged Sokka forward. "Why are we looking for a bison that can supposedly fly?" he asked, his voice thick with sarcasm. Katara glared at him, she had been glaring a lot recently. "Look, he's just over there", I ran over to Appa before another argument could start between the bickering siblings.

"Now what?" Sokka questioned as he dragged himself up onto the saddle. "Yip yip" I ordered, silently willing the Flying bison to finally fly unlike last time where he merely swam. To my joy he took off, soaring into the sky with me clutching the reins tightly. A high pitched scream came from behind me, I turned expecting it to have been Katara but instead it had been Sokka who was now hanging tightly onto his sister's arm. I found myself grinning and urging Appa to fly even faster.

3rd Person P.O.V.

As the trio flew over the expanse of ocean they eventually spotted the fire nation ship that held Aang captive. Jak-jak gently eased Appa into a dive, slowly headed towards the ship. He squinted to make out the small figures on the ship. He watched as the metal door was suddenly kicked open, Aang bounded out, his wrists bound tightly behind his back. His face lit up in recognition as he spotted the fast approaching Appa. "Come on" Sokka ordered, over his earlier fear of flying. Aang swiftly kicked the attacking fire nation soldier hard in the head before he air-bent himself up to rest beside Sokka. "Go" he yelled as Katara worked on untying him. Appa veered sharply right as they made their way back to the icy village.

Thy touched down smoothly and dismounted Appa, Aang looking uncertain as he dropped to the ground. Gran-gran rushed out to meet them "come on" she said warmly, beckoning them into their igloo. "You too Avatar" she added with a smile as the young airbender hesitated.

They sat down around the small fire that crackled in the centre of the room, radiating warmth. "So" she said as they sat around sipping cups of hot tea. She turned to Jak-jak "you're a spacebender aren't you", Jak-jak spluttered, coughing on his tea. "Yeah" he answered sadly after he had recovered. "Why do you sound so down about it?" the elderly woman asked. Jak-jak sighed "well, I'm a sign of evil" he told her. "What? No you're not, you can't be held accountable for what your ancestors did a hundred years ago, and you didn't choose to be Space Empire". "But what about my eyes?" he asked "What about them?" she asked confused", "they're the sign of the devil!" he exclaimed. "Now why would you think that, just because they're different colours? Some people have blue eyes are they evil? I know that brown eyes aren't so if you have one of each it doesn't make you evil. What you do and how you act can make you bad, but even then people can change" Jak-jak nodded, a small smile on his face. "And how can you be seen as evil when your helping the avatar?" she mused, patting his cloaked shoulder comfortingly. "Thank you" he said gratefully.

"Not to be the one who interrupts a touching moment" Sokka began, standing up "but we've really got to decide what we're going to do now". Aang got to his feet beside him. "I have to save the world" he said, "we have to save the world" I corrected. "Oh, yeah" Sokka yelled ecstatically, "we're gonna beat that Fire Lord to a pulp" he exclaimed waving his dagger around, narrowly missing Aang's head.

The foursome were ready to take off. After loading the supplies kindly donated by the water tribe onto Appa's back and saying hasty goodbyes they were finally ready to take off. "Yip yip" Aang called to Appa giving a small upward motion with the reins. Sokka and Katara waved madly to the people far below them as they rose up into the air, headed for the Earth Kingdom.

"Why are we goin' to the Earth kingdom again?" Sokka asked. "Well, Sokka since it was your plan maybe you should know" Katara answered with a sigh. "I know" Sokka said, sitting up with a smug expression plastered across his tanned face "I just wanted to hear you say it", Katara groaned "are we nearly there yet?" she asked Aang who was perched on Appa's head. "We'll be there in a few weeks" he answered with a light chuckle. She groaned again and slumped down, arms folded across her chest.

"Don't worry, we'll be landing soon and then you can get as far away from him as possible" Jak-jak told her, "I thought you were supposed to be my friend" Sokka called out in mock being anger. Jak-jak laughed and Sokka joined in heartily.

"I'm starving" Sokka groaned, "hey, Aang is there anywhere we can get some food?" "Nope" Aang called out cheerily. "But we'll stop soon, we've got plenty of fish from the tribe" Jak-jak consoled him as Aang made a face "guess I'll have to settle for seaweed" he said.

Jak-jak stroked Riff absentmindedly as he watched the sun sink below the horizon. "Hey Aang, I think we'd want to land soon" he called out to his friend. Aang nodded and began his search for a place to land. They circled once before landing in a clearing in the middle of a pine forest. "It's spooky here" Sokka whined as he crept off Appa, half hiding behind Katara. "Well you can always leave but I guess you won't get any food then" Katara told him. He instantly stood up straight "never mind" he said meekly.

Jak-jak rolled his eyes at Sokka before making his way into the forest, in search of fire wood. "Sokka go help Jak-jak" Katara ordered and Sokka was soon walking beside him. "Hey" he greeted as he caught up to him. The pair made their way deeper into the forest. "So what's it like being part of the Space Empire? Ooo, can you spacebend? What's it like? Are you able to do other kinds of bending? Gran-Gran said you could but I don't know if it's true, I mean I know you can Woodbend and stuff but is that the only other element you can bend?" Jak-jak opened his mouth to answer the flurry of questions that he had been bombarded with when the ground moved under his feet. He shot upwards and realisation sank in. he was suspended high above the ground. Suspended in a net, with Sokka in a very awkward position…

**Author's Note: Let me know what you think of this chapter. Constructive critism will be gladly accepted. Please review.**

**I am Nightwolf, King of the Wolves.**

**I am the Teller of tales long forgotten.**

**I am a Storyteller.**


	4. Chapter 4: Bending Space

**Authors Note: thank you to anyone who has read so far, I would love to see you leave a review for this chapter and as always constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.**

**DISCLAIMER:**** I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender**

Jak-jak was suspended in a tightly-woven, rope net. His face was squished to the bottom of it and Sokka was on top of him. "You squishing me" he groaned. "Sorry" Sokka apologised as he attempted to shift into a position that was more comfortable for both of them.

"Can you cut the ropes?" Jak-jak asked, thinking of Sokkas jaw-bone dagger. Sokka shook his head "I left all my weapons with Katara" he said sheepishly. Jak-jak sighed in annoyance, the one time they actually needed Sokkas dagger or even the pointed edge of his all so mighty boomerang and he had left them behind. "What about you?" Sokka questioned accusingly, "can't you spacebend us out of here or something. Jak-jak sighed dejectedly. "I can't" he told Sokka in a half-whisper. "I can't even spacebend properly. The monks spent twelve years trying to teach me, but I never managed to do it" he muttered bitterly.

"Het, you can Woodbend, right?" I mean that's pretty cool. "Woodbend" Jak-jak echoed. "Yeah, that's what I just said" Sokka told, sounding slightly confused. "No! I can _Woodbend _we're in a _tree_" Jak-jak told him excitedly. A goofy grin spread across Sokkas face as his words sank in. "Then what are you waiting for? Cut us loose".

Jak-jak focused hard. He breathed in slowly and let his awareness flow out, seeing all his surroundings, feeling the gentle breeze that rustled the tree leaves. Noticing the family of squirrel-rats nesting in the tree for the first time. Hearing the caw of a fox-crow as it flew in the open sky. "Are you done yet?" .Jak-jak opened an eye "I would be if someone hadn't asked me if I was done yet!" he yelled irritably.

He was about to return to his meditative state when the ropes of the net suddenly slackened and he was sent hurtling to the ground. "Wow, that was fast" Sokka commented as they picked themselves up off the ground. Jak-jak raised his head, they were surrounded by a group of twelve men. Eight of them were muscular and burly clutching heavy clubs and maces whilst the others were scrawnier but held pointed knives menacingly. He nudged Sokka who instantly paled.

One of them ran forward with a yell and brought his club down on Sokkas skull, with just enough power to knock the defenceless water tribe boy out. Jak-jak felt rage bubbling up inside of him as he watched his friend crumple to the ground. He felt a power cursing through his veins. A power that was indescribable, a power that felt that it had lain inside of him for years, untouched.

His vision blurred and he was unable to comprehend anything his eyes were seeing. The power surged out of him. He felt his feet leave the ground as he rose up into the air. His untouched power blasted out in a flash of dark matter and in that moment Jak-jak felt truly alive. He could taste the stars on his tongue, feel the emptiness of the black-holes sucking in the surrounding light, and sense every living organism on the earth. It ended too quickly, he fell to the ground, unconscious like Sokka, the twelve bandits had been reduced to piles of smoking ash.

That was how Katara found them later. She had grown worried after they had not returned and had set out to find them. She called to Aang who used his airbending to safely transport the pair back to their camp. "What happened?" Katara asked after he had lain them down beside the fire. Jak-jaks face had turned a ghostly white, his lips had developed a tinge of blue and the lids of his eyes were black. "I don't know, but something tells me that nothing good could have happened" Aang told her gravely.

Jak-jak opened his eyes with a groan. His head pounded furiously and his vision swam. He sat up as Katara came over. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern. Jak-jak nodded his head but instantly regretted it as the room began spinning again, forcing him to lay down again. He kept his eyes closed tightly, trying to ease the migraine that plagued him. He felt something herd press against his lips and opened his mouth to swallow a warm, sweet liquid. "There" he heard Katara say, speaking to someone beside her. "This medicine will help him with any pain but he will probably be asleep for the rest of the day". He heard a grunt of acknowledgement that could only belong to Aang. It sounded far off, as though in the distance and then he drifted into the sweet silence of unconsciousness.

The scent of blood filled the air, scream echoed around him, blurring into one. A girls. Jak-jak stumbled through the undergrowth pushing bushes past him. The stench of death was intoxicating. He tripped and fell, mud splashing in his face. He looked down at his hands which were coated in a thick, crimson liquid. _Blood!_ A river of blood ran sluggishly towards him. He tried to move but his feet were stuck, encased in solid rock. The tide of crimson washed over him swarming into his mouth, flooding his nose with its stench, blinding him in a mass of red. The scream grew louder and louder. And he was helpless.

Finn awoke, panting heavily. Sweat ran down his brow. He felt a damp towel being pressed to his forehead and Kataras presence beside him. He lifted his hand, sitting up he looked around. He was back at camp. He vaguely remembered the time he woke up before, his senses dulled by pain. Now his head had stopped its throbbing he felt better. He looked at the hand he had raised, in the light of the campfire he could see that it was shaking. "You okay" Aang asked, coming up to him. Jak-jak remembered the high-pitched screams, he shuddered as he remembered her pain and how he had been powerless, stuck in rock.

"Katara" he began, turning towards the blue-eyed waterbender "would you…would you teach me to waterbend?" he asked, he knew that he had the ability to bend all the elements but so far he had only mastered airbending and begun learning to woodbend, "yeah" Aang exclaimed excitedly "we can be bending buddies!" Katara silenced him with a glare "sure" she told him. Jak-jak grabbed his pale, wooden staff. "Let's go" he cried and began running in the direction of the nearest lake. Katara stuck out a hand, grabbing him by the collar of his cloak and steered him around to face her. "Hold yer horses, it's the middle of the night" she said pointing upwards into the night sky and the large moon above them. "Oh" Jak-jak murmured, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Aang burst out laughing and Jak-jak couldn't help but smile.

A shadow loomed out of the darkness, revealing a bleary eyed Sokka "shuddup somevus are tryyin to get surm sleep" he murmured, his word slurred with the effects of sleep, with that he turned and shuffled back to his tent, stumbling over multiple rocks in the process. The trio smiled at each other before they too walked back to their tents for the night.

Jak-jak woke with the sun the next morning, eager for his bending lesson with Katara. As he approached the large lake he saw Katara standing at its shore. "Hi" he greeted, running up to her. She smiled back at him as she let the ark of water she had been bending fall back into the water with a splash. "We still have to wait for Aang" she told him. She walked over to a large walk and sat down, gesturing for Jak-jak to do the same. "It's a nice morning" he said as he sat down beside her. Indeed it was. The sun cast its light rays across the sky, tinting the light blue with a faint gold. Birds chirped sweetly in the trees and a pleasant breeze blew gently through the air.

He heard Katara swallow nervously beside him and he turned his head to look at her. "I um…I wanted to ask you something. I mean it's okay if you don't want to answer but…" she trailed off, flustered. Jak-jak smiled, silently telling her that it was fine to ask him the question. She returned his smile with her own, grateful one. "I just wanted to know how you killed those men" she told him. Confusion spread across Jak-jaks face. "What men?" he asked. Katara stared slightly shocked. "Wait, you don't remember?" Jak-jak shook his head.

In a rush memories flooded his brain. He was partially aware of him falling to his knees and Katara shouting something in his ear. He remembered the immense power he had felt surging through him, he remembered Sokka, unconscious. He remembered the men, his enemy. He remembered everything.

It ended and Jak-jak felt his awareness return. He shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and staggered to his feet. "I know how" he told Katara grimly. "I spacebended". Kataras face lit up in surprise. "I thought, I thought you weren't able to". "I don't know how I did it" he admitted "I'm pretty sure that's what led to me fainting, and killing those men. I'm not sure I want this. Not if it means I can't control it" Katara put an arm around his shoulder. "Then we'll learn how to control. You've got all of us to help you" she assured him and Jak-jak smiled.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Aang asked, strolling over to the pair. "Woah, did I miss something?" he asked seeing Katara comforting the space empire boy and the heaviness in the air between them. "Not much" Jak-jak said with a grin as he stood up. "Now, how does this work?" he asked, staring intently at the water.

Katara showed him how to waterbend. She brought him through the only form she knew. "It took me ages to get this so don't expect-" she stopped as she saw Aang waving a ball of water around his head. His ball of water was much steadier in comparison to her wobbly one. She looked taken aback. Jak-jak felt a small twinge of envy towards Aang as he tried to gather water and raise it up into the air. It rose halfway to his head before he lost control and fell back into the lake he tried again to no avail, trying again and again with Katara explaining patiently to him.

They walked back to the camp after a few hours. Katara looked a little put-out. Aang had learnt that form almost instantly, and even though Jak-jak had failed at first he had mastered it within the hour and now he could perform tricks even better than Aang. It had taken her years to learn how to control the water and then they had come along and done it so smoothly.

Jak-jak must have noticed her expression because he stopped and asked Aang to go ahead without them. "What's wrong?" he questioned once Aang was out of hearing range. "It's just that it took me years to get that move…" she told him, feeling embarrassed now that she had said it out loud. She had expected him to be offended by her jealousy but instead he just laughed. "Why do you think we're so good? We have the best waterbending teacher to show us". Katara smiled despite herself. She appreciated what he had said, she really did.


	5. Chapter 5: Pain

**Authors Note: I would love to hear from everyone that liked this so far. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated as always and I would be grateful to anyone who wants to share what they think will happen in the future.**

**DISCLAIMER:**** I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender (unfortunately) **

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_Blood pounded in Jak-jaks ears, the thick scent of fear flooded his senses and with a pang of shock he realised it was his own. A high pitched scream split through the air. He spun around quickly, straining to see through the thick black fog that encased him. Another scream pierced his ears and a pale face loomed out of the darkness. He reached out a shaking hand but she was dragged back into the smog._

Jak-jak awoke suddenly. He was panting heavily and sweat dripped from his brow. He shook his head in a feeble attempt to clear the remnants of the dream from his mind and decided to take a walk through the forest. He stopped at the lake where he had practised waterbending earlier that day. The moon cast its glow onto the lakes smooth surface, turning it a gentle silver. He calmed his harsh breathing as a gentle breeze wove through the trees.

'Who was she?' he wondered 'what did she want? Was she in trouble? He had to help her!' Jak-jak had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Aangs approach. "Are you okay?" he asked, a worried expression on his childish features. Jak-jak shook his head slowly, he knew better than to lie to Aang who would be able to tell instantly.

"Come on, we'll go for a fly" he said suddenly, handing Jak-jak his pale-coloured glider and readying his own. Jak-jak smiled at him and allowed the black wings of his glider to spread out. "Okay, let's do it" with that they soared through the air, the gentle breeze soothing Jak-jaks troubled mind.

"Thanks Aang" Jak-jak spoke, breaking the peaceful silence that had rested between them "For what?" Aang asked, slightly confused "for everything. You were the only friend I had in the air temple, I guess I wasn't that popular" he said with a small, nervous laugh.

The pair dropped down on to a tiny island that had just about enough room for them to sit comfortably. "Are you kidding? Everyone wanted to be your friend even Tae Kwang wanted to be your friend and he doesn't like anyone!" Aang mused while Jak-jak looked at him in disbelief.

They watched in silence as the sun slowly rose up past the horizon, casting its gentle glow across the lake and lighting up the sky with a beautiful gold. "I suppose we had better head back" Aang said with a sigh, taking off with Jak-jak following close behind.

"Okay" Sokka announced, a map spread out in front of him "there's a village not far from here, we can pick up some supplies there". He rolled up the map and proceeded to scramble up Appas flank. Aang sighed and airbent Sokka up into the saddle. "I could have done it myself" he pouted, flustered. Jak-jak chuckled before he took a running jump into the saddle with a little airbending and a neat flip at the end. "Show of…" Sokka murmured.

They reached the village in a matter of minutes. "Okay, Katara you go with Aang to get the vegetables and us men will get the meat" he said, nudging Jak-jak playfully with his elbow. Katara rolled her eyes and began walking to the nearest vegetable stall with Aang in tow. "Right" Sokka began cheerfully "let's try over there first" he said, gesturing to the jerky stall at the other side of the long street.

Jak-jak walked nervously after Sokka. A small child stared up at him, wide-eyed before her worried mother rushed over grabbing the child and ushering away from Jak-jak with an angry glare at him. He ducked his head down, trying to avoid the angry glares of the villagers. He had to step to aside to avoid the man who spat at him angrily.

Sokka walked on, oblivious to it all. At last they reached the other end of the street. "Here we are" Sokka called cheerily, stopping at the stall. The man who owned it threw a filthy look at Jak-jak "we don't serve Space Empire scum" he spat angrily, face growing red in silent rage. Sokka looked shocked, glancing between Jak-jak who had shrank back from the man's rage and the angry owner with his mouth agape.

"Look sir, we've got money. Isn't that what you want?" Sokka asked. The brute of man glanced longingly at the money being waved temptingly under his nose. "No" he snapped "I will not serve filthy Space rats!" he roared, attracting the attention of the locals who instantly swarmed around the stall, eager for an interesting event for them to gossip on. Jak-jak backed away, hands raised in a submissive manner "look, I don't want any trouble-" "you should have thought of that before you tried to destroy all the nations!" the jerky-seller interrupted. The crowd shouted their agreement.

A man ran out of the crowd and punched Jak-jak hard in the stomach "get out of here you scum!" He yelled standing over the boy who lay winded on the ground. "Yeah" three teenage boys yelled in unison walking over and kicking him hard in the ribs. "You stupid F-" a burly man roared, grabbing Jak-jak by the collar and smashing him up against the wall of a near-by building. He streamed off a string of vile swear-words most of which Jak-jak had never heard of. He squirmed in the man's grasp, he was thrown roughly to the ground, lip bleeding in a thin trickle and side aching. A hooded figure emerged from the crowd amidst their roaring and jeering he scooped the wounded Jak-jak up off the crowd and fled the scene. "Who are you?" Jak-jak whispered as he was carried through dark alleyways. The stranger looked down at him, a kind smile on her face "It doesn't matter who I am. It only matters who you are, I've seen it in the stars…you are going to do great good in the world".

They reached the end of a narrow street and the girl sat him down at last. She lifted her hood, allowing her dark, braided hair to fall loosely over her shoulder. Jak-jak took in her appearance. She must have only been twenty but she looked lean and fit and strong. "Come on, we have to get you out of here, I'm sure your friends will be worried" Jak-jak nodded. She quickly bent them on to the wall at the back of the street. "Wait at the gates, they'll be there shortly" she instructed. Jak-jak nodded his thanks before leaping of the wall and walking to the edge of the gate that marked the entrance to the town.

"Jak-jak" Sokka embraced him tightly. "Sorry I couldn't rescue you" he muttered sheepishly "I was just about to whip out Boomerang when that cloaked wierdo swooped in and kid-napped you" he said, whipping out his boomerang for good measure. Jak-jak chuckled "its fine. No worries" he assured his friend.

At last Aang returned with Katara, laden down with bags of groceries. "What happened to the meat?" she questioned upon reaching the pair of boys. "They um… ran out?" it sounded like more of a question than an answer and Katara obviously thought so too by the looks of the suspicious glare she was giving Sokka who just shrugged in response. "And what the hell happened to you?"

They piled their load onto Appa "okay, now that we've done that we can finally go to the North to get me a waterbending master" Aang announced. "Nope, we've got one more thing to do" Sokka announced. "What's that?" Aang asked uncertainly "we have to go to Kie's. They've got the best turtle-duck in the world" he claimed licking his lips while Aang made a gagging motion.

Jak-jak grinned at him. They jumped on Appa flying to a neighbouring town. "Here we are!" Sokka exclaimed proudly, gesturing to the grand entrance to the small restaurant. They walked in. "We'll take three turtle-ducks and whatever vegetarian thing you have for him" Sokka ordered their food. The waiter gave a swift glare to Jak-jak but Sokka ignored it so he turned to give their orders to chef.

They sat down at a small, round table and ate their meals in silence…until Sokka interrupted it with a loud moan of satisfaction. "This stuff is so good!" he cried shoving mouthfuls of the said food into his mouth. "Um…yeah this is wonderful too it's so-" Aang began "shut it Aang us proper people are enjoying our meat like proper people" Sokka interrupted him. Aang glared at him as best he could through his innocent face and turned to Katara to converse with her instead. "Hey Sokka, where'd you find this place anyway?" Jak-jak questioned. "Oh, dad told us about it once but we never actually got to eat here" Sokka told him mid chew. "Look!" he threw open the map he had used earlier "see all those red marks? Those are places that we have to eat at" he said excitedly while Jak-jak rolled his eyes. Trust Sokka to have marked out every restaurant and pub to eat at. The boy sure loved his food.

Sokka sat back with a content sigh "okay. Now we can go" he said, burping loudly much to Kataras disgust. "Honestly. You are no better than a lion-pig" "hey!" he protested loudly. "I can eat way more than a tiger-pig!" Katara groaned in exasperation and Jak-jak chuckled at Sokkas remark. "What? I totally could!" he swore.

"Alright" Aang said standing up "we really have to get going now, we have a lot of distance to cover. The others agreed and walked out of the restaurant into the cool, refreshing air that awaited them. Jak-jak sighed "now this is good weather for flying" he noted as a gentle breeze picked up. They walked back to Appa and Momo. "Hi Riff!" Jak-jak greeted the small wolf-ferret that he had left with the other animals. He fed the excited creature the scraps he had saved from the meal and the ferret wolfed them down eagerly.

Aang swiftly ordered Appa to take off, desperate to make up the time they had lost. Sokka soon fell asleep beside Katara, snoring loudly and even Katara felt her eyes begin to droop with the satisfied sleep that her full stomach demanded. Jak-jak smiled to himself, gently stroking Riff who lay asleep on his lap. The sun had just reached its peak. "Hey look! It's the Southern Air-Temple" Aang called happily. "We could stop and say hi" he said. "Um…Aang. I don't think that's a good idea" she warned sharing a knowing glance with Sokka who had awoken a few minutes prior. "Er…yeah Aang. We don't have enough time" he muttered anxiously. But Aang brushed his anxiety off "come on. We had time for your food didn't we? Besides we'll just swing by and say that I'm back" he said cheerily. Appa entered a steep dive and landed with a jolt in a courtyard at the temple.

"Hello?" Aang called walking into the building, surprised to see it looking so dislocate. "Aang there's something you should know" Katara began but Aang took off running from room to room "where is everyone? Is this some sort of game?" he asked. "Aang!" Aang turned to face Katara at last when she yelled out his name. "What is there something you want to tell me?" he asked. Katara sighed slowly. "Aang when the Fire Nation attacked they…" "What Katara?" Aang asked. He turned around and ran down the hallway but stopped at the end. The rest of the temple was just a pile of ash. In the centre of the room amongst the debris was a skeleton. Aang fell to his knees as he recognised Monk Gyatso. "They wiped out the air nation" Katara said in a half-whisper.

Sokka walked up to Aang and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jak-jak turned and left the room, hands over his ears, eyes shut tightly trying to drive out the haunting image of Monk Gyatso's skeleton. Aang's arrow lit up in a bright white. An orb of air surrounded him, knocking Sokka away as it swirled around. "Aang" Katara cried as the boy rose up into the air, in an overwhelming anger and hurt that had driven him into the Avatar State. "Aang…don't".

Jak-jaks staff clattered to the ground and he fell to his knees. Breathing heavily…

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**Authors Note: I apologise for not updating sooner but I caught the dreaded illness known as Writers Block and therefor was unable to write to my normal standard. I hope you enjoyed and I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to leave a review. As always constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated and if you see any mistakes in the writing or the events please feel free to tell me so that I may correct it. **

**I am Nightwolf, King of the Wolves, and Leader of all Packs.**

**I am the Teller of Tales Forgotten.**

**I am the Storyteller**


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